BY MUSTAFA KARAALIOGLU
YENI SAFAK- ‘Let’s look at things honestly and pragmatically,’ President Ahmet Necdet Sezer told the Organization of the Islamic Conference (OIC). ‘How will the OIC transform itself into an important and influential force?’ Sezer called on the OIC members to critique themselves as the organization has been roundly criticized as ineffectual. For years, the OIC has failed to find workable solutions to the problems of the Islamic world, which is why in the eyes of most Muslims it remains an unimportant organization.
‘We must bring our forces together,’ urged Foreign Minister Abdullah Gul in his address to the OIC meeting in Istanbul. ‘If we fail to solve our own problems, foreign pressure will mount.’ The Islamic countries must pool their resources. The OIC has betrayed Muslim nations by acting as a lackey for US designs. It failed to take effective moves even after the tragic developments in Palestine, Iraq and Afghanistan. And now the organization is being discussed as the center of a humiliating project, namely, the US’ Greater Middle East Initiative (GME).
The Islamic world needs new policies that will command widespread respect. Common political objectives must be identified, and economic ties strengthened. Unfortunately, not even Islam holds the Islamic world together any more. Both Sezer’s and Gul’s words underscored the same fact: the Islamic world needs to make radical course changes for the sake of democracy and human rights. Towards this end, solidarity is very important. Without uniting its forces and improving cooperation, even the most comprehensive transformation will remain but a hollow facade.